Sometimes you need
by entercreativename
Summary: The Doctor finds his way back to Bad Wolf Bay where he meets Thomas, a young boy charged to his care. Ten/Rose. Not the typical fic.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Sometimes you need… (Part 1 of 4)  
**Author: ** azmatazz/entercreativename  
**Characters/Pairings: **Rose/Ten, original characters  
**Rating: **PG  
**Word Count: **7,500  
**Beta: ** belsum  
**Warnings: **Character Death (but in a very good way)**  
Disclaimer: **Rose, the Doctor, and the TARDIS all belong to the BBC, Russell T. Davies, and everyone else in the production team. **  
Summary: **The Doctor finds his way back to Bad Wolf Bay where he meets Thomas, a young boy charged to his care.

* * *

To my Gramum.

* * *

A little boy sat on a big rock on a windswept beach. It was really important that he was there, the most important thing in the world. He had a letter and he was waiting for the man in the blue box to come and pick it up. Because it was important to him, and to his Grampa, and most importantly, his Gramum. So important to his Gramum.

But, he didn't understand why he couldn't be with her right now. She was up in the house on the cliff in her bedroom, and he had been there, too. She was asleep, and he couldn't understand why she was asleep. It was so early in the day, _Camberwick Green_ was still on the telly, and she should be awake; she was awake earlier after all. They sang together before breakfast and he even told her his ABCs. They needed to play. Play and sing their silly songs, as his mum put it. So silly. But he still didn't understand why his Gramum wouldn't wake up.

He did understand a few things. He was Tommy Turner after all, five years old, and the best member of the Turner family of Bad Wolf Bay. He was really good at running and games, and his Gramum said that he was the best at math and science. And he was too. His Gramum taught him that.

But he still didn't understand all the adults in her room that day. His mum and his dad were both crying, and so were his aunt and uncle. And aside from Tommy, all the other kids were sent away that day. Grampa stood next to Gramum and held her hand while she slept. Why wouldn't they wake her up? He climbed up onto the bed next to her and his dad pulled him away.

"I want to be with Gramum!" he shouted, hoping that being loud would wake her up. Loud things always woke him up after all, and if he were loud, then she would wake up too. "I have to sing to her!" he yelled as his father put him alone in the living room, telling him to wait there like a good boy. He didn't understand why they didn't take her to the doctor. The doctor helped him in the past when he couldn't wake up.

He had been out playing with his friends in a big tall tree earlier that year. It was getting late and his mum called him in for his tea. But it wasn't late enough as he knew he could climb up that tree even higher. He always wanted to see the stars, he dreamt of it each and every night. He even told his Gramum that he knew that one day he would see them. So Tommy climbed and climbed, reaching for those stars that were starting to come out, when with a great big crash of branches and leaves he fell to the ground.

When he woke up, he was in a bed in a strange room and his head hurt badly. His mum stared down at him worried and his dad looked over his paper with a stern look in his face. He didn't like the way they looked at him. But his Gramum was there, holding him in her arms and singing those ancient songs to him. She told him that he was in a place called a "hospital" and the doctors were there to make his head all better. They made him better when he was sick, so why wouldn't it work now that she was sick too? Why couldn't they make her better? He started kicking around a pillow as if it were a ball.

Tommy's father came back out and said a few words to him. Big words, words he never understood. He always remembered his father that way - big words and that strong spice of his aftershave he couldn't play with. His father said something else and walked away, leaving Tommy alone.

So little Tommy hid under a pile of pillows on his couch, hiding from the adults who wouldn't let him sing to his Gramum. He buried himself deeper and deeper until he couldn't go any further. Maybe if he could pretend he was alone, the adults would think he was invisible and he could go back in the room with them. It had to work, didn't it?

A single tear rolled down little Tommy's cheek as someone came out of his Gramum's room. He wanted to be in that room with everyone, not just for his Gramum, but his mum and dad too.

"Tommy, your Gramum's going away," Grampa said to him, sitting behind him on the couch.

"Why won't she wake up?"

"She can't anymore Tommy," Grampa pulled an old yellowed envelope out of his pocket. There was something written on it, but Tommy was too young to know how to read well yet. There were a few words he knew - cat, hat, bat, hot, pot - all the words he needed to know when he started school next year. Gramum made sure of that so long ago. Gramum taught him other things too - that one plus one made two, and always tie your shoes so you don't trip on the laces. Tommy really liked Gramum. Especially when she would sing to him.

Everyone told Gramum not to bother with those songs, that no one knew them anyway. She said that they were songs an old friend taught her, old songs from a faraway place called, "Gallifrey." And it was up to Tommy to remember all these songs, because one day, he might need them. His Gramum told him so herself. Just like he might need to know how to tie his shoe or to know not to cross the road without looking. And he needed to know the color blue and to always say please and thank you. And always be polite.

"Tommy, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but your Gramum won't be able to sing to you anymore. She's going somewhere; somewhere far away and we can't go with her."

Tommy looked up at Grampa with tears in his eyes. "Is she going to Gallifrey?" he asked. Afterall, she had a friend from Gallifrey, and she would tell Tommy stories about it late at night when they couldn't sleep.

Grampa looked down at the young boy, young man as Gramum used to tell him, and a tear twinkled in the corner of his eye. "Maybe. Maybe she will." He smiled at him and looked down at the paper in his hand. "Tommy, I have something very important for you to do…"

And that's why Tommy was out here on the rock, waiting for the postman, the man in the blue box, to come to collect his letter.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Sometimes you need… (Part 2 of 4)  
**Author: ** azmatazz/entercreativename  
**Characters/Pairings: **Rose/Ten, original characters  
**Rating: **PG  
**Word Count: **7,500  
**Beta: ** belsum  
**Warnings: **Character Death (but in a very good way)**  
Disclaimer: **Rose, the Doctor, and the TARDIS all belong to the BBC, Russell T. Davies, and everyone else in the production team. **  
Summary: **The Doctor finds his way back to Bad Wolf Bay where he meets Thomas, a young boy charged to his care.

* * *

Tommy waited and waited, and the morning dew turned to the afternoon sun, which turned to the lightest pinks and purples of dusk. But, there was still no sign of the man or his blue box. Tommy jumped down off the rock and kicked it, angry that all those adults in his Gramum's room lied to him. Especially, his Grampa. Tommy had sung all the songs while waiting, sung to the point where his voice had gone hoarse and his throat dry with tears and silent rage. And now, he was angry and cold and tired and hungry and he just wanted to hug his Gramum one more time. Just once. 

But the adults in the house up on the hill wouldn't let him. The adults didn't think he understood words like "never," and "can't," and "death" and "disease." He might not know those words, but when his own Gramum wouldn't wake up, he knew something bad had happened. And when his dad cried, he knew it was worse. His dad who barely had grown old. So little Tommy stood by the rock and he kicked and he screamed and he yelled, because really, all he wanted was his Gramum there to tell him it was okay. He didn't want to be out in the cold waiting for this postman to come and pick up the letter.

Stupid letter.

Tommy stared at it in his hands and within seconds he found himself ripping it in half as he began to understand what "never" and "can't" meant; they were the same as "no." No, he could not sing to her. No, he could not be with her in her room. No, this paper would never be important anymore, not if she could never sing to him again. Now he could never learn new things from her. Gramum said that when she was better (she always was better, why did she become sick now? Why was she asleep?), she would take him to the town for ice cream and teach him about peaches and strawberries. He'd like those she said. But, now that she'd never wake up, how could she do that? You can't take someone to town if you can't wake up. His Gramum would never again teach him new things, nor sing to him.

Never. Can't. No.

He looked back down at the paper in his hand and started to tear it a second time when a blue box began to appear just down the beach. It was loud and scary and he ran behind the rock to hide from the noise and the wind and the light that it made. He remembered his Gramum trying to teach him a word, now what was it again? It was important; important like "blue" but even more. Tommy sat and thought for all his might. He tried and tried and tried. That word was something like P-O-L-I-C-E; he remembered because of the rhyme "Poor Old Lester, Ice Cream Eater. Buy our Xpensive…" He looked up from behind the rock and saw those six (or was it seven? He was still bad at counting, his Gramum was supposed to help him with it. Other maths things came easy, but not counting yet) letters on the top of the box, and a thin man in a brown striped suit with fuzzy hair just like Tommy's stepped out of it.

"Here we go," the man from the blue box said as he ducked his head out, but something was wrong and he stopped. He was smiling at first, but now he looked sad as he said, "No, it can't be…" He took another few steps and stopped, staring at Tommy who was just peering out from behind the rock. Tommy jumped back and hid when the man looked at him. "Hello?" the man said as he crouched in front of Tommy, curious and young.

"It's okay, I'm the Doctor, and who are you?" the man asked as Tommy swallowed hard.

"I'm Tommy Turner, I'm five, and I live here," Tommy said as he swallowed back all his fear. He was still somewhat scared from the noise of the blue box and the sudden appearance of this postman.

The Doctor peeked behind the rock as if looking for something. "Well, what an odd house. It looks like a rock. I do hope it's bigger on the inside!" the Doctor grinned as Tommy laughed.

"It's not my house, my house is up there," he pointed up towards the top of the hill. But he frowned as he stepped forward as he realized that he stepped on the very important paper he was supposed to give the man from the blue box that his Grampa told him about. "Uh-oh," he whimpered as he realized that the Doctor was that man.

The Doctor looked down at the torn papers under Tommy's feet. "It's okay Tommy, I can fix anything!" he said as he took out what looked like a silver pen with a blue end. The Doctor pressed a button and the pen lit up and made a sound and within seconds the letter was whole again.

"Doctor, are you the man from the blue box?" Tommy asked as the Doctor put the pen back in his pocket.

"I guess you could call me that."

"I'm supposed to give you that letter, the one in your hands." Tommy pointed to the letter the Doctor was now holding. The Doctor looked down at it and frowned. "My Grampa said it was important," he said, unsure of what he had to do next.

The Doctor opened the envelope and looked over the paper within. Tommy didn't know what was written on there, but the Doctor looked sadder and sadder as each second ticked by. Soon, the Doctor put his hands by his side and the letter fluttered to the sand by his feet. He looked up at the house and sighed, as if he had just been hurt. Tommy wanted to help, but didn't know how; he wanted to hug this postman man, but he was too afraid. Then he had an idea. Tommy said, "Sir, my Grampa said I'm supposed to sing for you. He says no one really knows the song but my Gramum," even though Grampa never told him to sing for him. Of course, Grampa never told Tommy not to sing for the postman man from the blue box either.

The Doctor walked over to the rock and sat next to Tommy, giving his full attention to the boy. "Okay, go ahead," he said as he looked down at Tommy.

Tommy cleared his throat. "It's just that, no one really knows the songs except Gramum and me, and my mum and my dad think it's silly. But she can't help me sing them now, she's asleep."

The Doctor smiled, "It's okay Tommy my boy, try it anyway. You never know what you can do unless you try, and besides, I'm always up for a good song," he said as Tommy licked his lips, blinking the fear down his throat, and began to sing.

And did Tommy ever sing. He sang one song, and the Doctor smiled a big proud smile. He sang another and another, pushing through the wind and the sea air that stung at his throat. And with each song the Doctor seemed happier and happier, even though Tommy didn't know why.

"…_Gallifrey of Kasterborous, of Citadel and Schism.  
Shining World of Seven Systems,  
the memories that we sing.  
Of Time and Space and worlds between,  
of mountains twin above,  
The lights of far and in our hearts…"_

But then, Tommy got to the next part of the song and just as he made it past the hardest part, disaster struck. He forgot the words. Tommy tried and tried, and he didn't know if it was the cold or the fact that he missed his Gramum, but he found himself crying.

"I'm sorry," Tommy said as he tried to hide his shame for not remembering those most important words for the most important tasks.

The Doctor smiled and said, "Tommy," and the boy looked up at him. And all of a sudden, the Doctor began to sing the song just the way Tommy's Gramum had taught him. All the right words, and all the weird places and things, like Skaro and Gallifrey. And Daleks and Time Lords. And the Untempered Schism and the Vortex. And Lady Time herself. The Doctor knew all the songs. Tommy ran up to the Doctor and put his arms around him; he had never met someone who could sing those songs the way his Gramum could. The Doctor hugged him back.

"Where did you learn those songs?" Tommy asked.

"On Gallifrey."

"But those were Gramum's songs."

"Who do you think taught them to her?" the Doctor smiled. Tommy smiled back.

"What's in the paper?" Tommy asked.

"A letter," the Doctor said, not hiding anything from Tommy.

"From who?"

"Your Gramum, my Rose." He said as he smiled back at Tommy, sadness took over his face. Tommy knew it was important. "Tommy, I need your help."

The little boy, now growing up, nodded in response. Whatever the Doctor asked him to do was just as important as anything he did for his Gramum. Because Tommy knew that this man knew his Gramum a very long time ago.

"I need you to take me to your Gramum," the Doctor said as he stood up from the rock, picking up the letter in the process. Tommy took the Doctor's hand and led him up the hill to the home and into the room where all the adults were. His mum and dad looked at the Doctor as if he were an intruder in the home, someone bad about to do something even worse. But his Grampa looked at the Doctor and broke into a small smile. The Doctor looked back at Tommy's Grampa and smiled the same smile and nodded back as he led Tommy to stand with Grampa for the moment. Grampa held Tommy close to him.

The Doctor sat on the bed next to Tommy's Gramum and held her head in his hands, the way she did when he was in the hospital, and the Doctor took Gramum's hand and held it in his and stroked it. He kissed Tommy's Gramum on the forehead and began to sing the song that Tommy sang for him. And the Doctor kept singing, stroking his Gramum's cheek. The Doctor stopped for a moment and motioned for Tommy to come over, so he did, and the Doctor helped Tommy onto the bed between him and Tommy's Gramum. Tommy saw his mum look at them with fear and his father stared with a stern look at the Doctor; this must be the man his Gramum kept telling them stories about from her youth.

But nothing bad happened. The Doctor asked Tommy to help him sing a song. So they sang the song together, his mum and dad and Grampa and uncle and aunt all crying. But Tommy still didn't know why they were crying. He knew his Gramum would never wake up, but he also knew that he was able to sing to her, and she'd like that. So Tommy didn't cry and neither did the Doctor because they were singing to his Gramum. For a moment the Doctor stopped singing, but kept rocking Tommy in his arms. When he joined back in to sing, he was singing in words that Tommy had never heard before. Tommy stopped singing.

"What is it Tommy?" the Doctor asked.

"Those words? Where are they from?"

The Doctor smiled. "Gallifrey."

"Is that where Gramum is going?"

The Doctor choked back a tear and hugged Tommy closer to him. "You can say that," he said as he stood up and helped Tommy down off the bed. The Doctor knelt down in front of him placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Tommy," he said, "I have something very important for you to do for me."

"Okay," Tommy said.

"I need you to wait here and sing to your Gramum for a few minutes. It's really important, because I know she'd want to hear you sing to her right now. Can you do that for me?"

"Okay," Tommy said again. The Doctor led everyone out of the room and Tommy was left alone to sing to his Gramum. He knew that she would not wake, but it was okay, because he could sing to her now, just as she would want.

What seemed like ages had passed as Tommy sang many, many songs, when the door opened and he heard the Doctor say, "It's all here in the letter, she would have wanted it this way," to his parents as Grampa and his dad and uncle followed the Doctor into the room.

"Tommy, I need your help with something," he said as the other men wrapped Gramum in a blanket. Tommy didn't seem to know why they would do that, but the Doctor seemed to know what was happening. "I need you to lead us down to my blue box," he said and handed a torch to Tommy. It was late and the sun had long since set; they needed the light to see down to the beach. The Doctor and the other men picked up Gramum and carried her down behind him to the blue box. When they got there, Tommy realized that his mum and aunt had followed them down with a small suitcase: Tommy's suitcase.

"Mum, are we going on a trip?" he asked.

Tommy's mum gave him the suitcase, "Tommy, we decided that you should go with the Doctor and your Gramum for little while; just a short trip. She wanted it that way, she wanted you to meet him, travel with him a bit. And you'll be back tomorrow." The other people had left the beach and it was now just Tommy, the Doctor, and Tommy's mum who was now pulling his coat tight around him and smoothing down that one stray hair. Tommy's Gramum lay asleep, wrapped in a blanket by the blue box.

"Okay," Tommy said as the Doctor carried Gramum into the blue box, the letter dropping to the ground from the Doctor's hand but no one had noticed, not even Tommy.

Tommy thought he heard his mum say something to him behind tears but he wasn't sure. He was so excited to go on a trip, especially with the Doctor and his Gramum, even though she would never wake up. He was okay with it now though as he and the Doctor were able to sing for her. But there was one thing left that made Tommy wonder, "Are we going to Gallifrey?"

"Better," the Doctor said. "We're going to take Gramum to see the stars. One last time." Tommy had heard his Gramum tell him about all the adventures she had in the stars, back in the old days before she came here to Bad Wolf Bay.

"Okay," Tommy said as he took the Doctor's hands and walked onto the blue box with him. They watched Tommy's mum from the monitor as they disappeared from the beach and into the stars. On the sand near her feet lay the yellowed letter, forgotten in the events of the night.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **Sometimes you need… (Part 3 of 4)  
**Author: ** azmatazz/entercreativename  
**Characters/Pairings: **Rose/Ten, original characters  
**Rating: **PG  
**Word Count: **7,500  
**Beta: ** belsum  
**Warnings: **Character Death (but in a very good way)**  
Disclaimer: **Rose, the Doctor, and the TARDIS all belong to the BBC, Russell T. Davies, and everyone else in the production team. **  
Summary: **The Doctor finds his way back to Bad Wolf Bay where he meets Thomas, a young boy charged to his care.

* * *

Years later, Thomas Turner piloted the TARDIS onto the beach near his old childhood home in Bad Wolf Bay and stepped out of the rickety blue doors onto the empty sand with stormy air and thunderous waves. He was many years older, nearing the end of his own life but he didn't look a day over thirty. For so many years he and the Doctor had tried to come back here to his childhood home but time and each adventure had taken them further away than before. Now, this had become a distant memory.

The Doctor was still alive, but just barely. He too had grown old throughout their years together, the adventures taking their toll on him as he sped through regeneration after regeneration. Thomas just barely remembered the shock of the first time he saw his grandfather regenerate; they had just made it back to the TARDIS alive, both badly injured when the Doctor gave his "I have to change" speech. A few minutes later, Thomas found himself doing the same thing and his grandfather holding him, guiding him through it; Time Lord genetics had allowed him that luxury.

Time Lord genetics in general had mystified Thomas and even the Doctor in his life. The very first day on the TARDIS when he was five, the Doctor looked him over to figure out how and why he was even able to exist. Thomas was his grandson, just as Rose was Thomas' grandmother. The Doctor later explained that a previous adventure had changed Rose; she had taken on the Time Vortex, and no one's meant to do that. Thomas' Gramum had become Time herself, and when the Doctor had kissed her to save her, he imprinted on her the DNA of the Rassilon Imprimatur. The Doctor was there when his Gramum became part Time Lady.

The Doctor was there too when Thomas had met Anna – lovely Anna, a woman whom they helped to free the rebellion leaders of Omega Omicron Six to set peace and order back to their society. In the process, Thomas fell in love and the Doctor watched from afar, no doubt reminded of the women he once loved in his life. Late one night, unbeknownst to Thomas, the Doctor had asked Anna to come with, and when Thomas woke up the next morning, there she was, glowing in the light of the console room. Just as he kissed Anna for the first time on the TARDIS, just after she accepted his hand in marriage, he saw his grandfather slip into the shadows of the ship to give them privacy. The look on his face showed no doubt to Thomas' actions, to Thomas' love, but showed longing for something he once had. And yet, neither man denied the beauty of that adventure or whom had come from it.

Then there were the children. The beautiful children with their singing and laughing filling the TARDIS with joy. She glowed the most beautiful shades of yellow and red to show her happiness at being filled with life once again. The Doctor, Anna, Thomas, and three little ones, all traveling together, from adventure to adventure. Thomas always wanted to bring the family home, back to Bad Wolf Bay, but every time they tried, they ended up somewhere else, further away from home. Eventually the little ones grew up, and brought even more life to their world, to their home. At times he thought of his mother, back waiting for him at the beach, looking out to the sea and up to the stars. But what was home but where you made your memories? Where you shared your adventures?

This adventure however was different; finality hung in the air. His children had long since grown, found homes scattered across the galaxy. Even his Anna had long since passed away - the problem with not having Time Lord genetics was that she was much more fragile than the rest of the family. He and his grandfather had finally fought the last Dalek and won, but in the process, it had cost them the Doctor's last life. He was now in bed about to join his Rose in the forever slumber.

Thomas took a few steps forward; it was the day after he left the home as a boy, and he made a promise to the Doctor to retrieve the one item they both had left there that night - the letter from Rose to his true Grandfather (he had since learned this secret and many other secrets on his travels for the previous few hundred years in the TARDIS - he had now become a better driver than anyone else, including the Doctor himself). He bent down and picked up the slightly dampened, yellowed envelope and held it in his hands; they had dropped it there on what was the previous night so many years ago. All those memories from his childhood flooded back into his mind as if he were five all over again. He started singing a song, this time in proper Gallifreyan just like his true grandfather, and twirled the paper in his fingers; it smelled of cinnamon and tea and the sea air - salty, yet spicy and sweet.

Thomas had returned the day after he left for his mother, but hundreds of years later in his life. He now looked as the Doctor looked the night before – for her – with the light lines near his eyes and the brown hair that just would not settle down. The only differences in appearance were his bright blue eyes, a scar that ran the length of his face from a battle with the Cybermen, and several fresh wounds that had just begun to heal from their last ordeal, the last Time War. He was lucky he had not regenerated from this one. Thomas patted the big rock and thought how much he longed to see his mother, but did not know if his new appearance would shock her, make things worse than they already were. He could not go backwards in his own life to steer the TARDIS back to his home. They had tried to bring Thomas home so many times but adventure pulled them further and further away. Maybe there was still time; maybe there was that one chance.

As he took a few steps up the path to the cottage he felt a twinge of cosmic angst in his chest – he was needed elsewhere at that moment. As much as it pained him to leave this place, to go without seeing his mother, for a boy will never outgrow that instinct, he knew was needed elsewhere. They were breaking the rules of time just by being here at all, and it would be much more dangerous for his mother if he were to stay and say hello than if he were to just leave without her ever knowing he were there. Reapers and paradoxes were the last things he wanted to fight today and even though he knew he had already lost her in his present, she was still alive far in his past.

Thomas walked back into the TARDIS and made his way down the long corridor to the Doctor's bedroom where he lay. Gray peppered the hair near his temples and wrinkles had overtaken the corners of Thomas' grandfather's face. The Doctor was old, far older than he actually looked, but he was old nonetheless.

"Did you find it?" the Doctor asked, rasping for air through the pain of a collapsed lung that would never heal, the wound having been caused by a high-energy weapon that left an open, gaping chasm in the Doctor's side. It was all Thomas could do to keep him comfortable. Even though the Doctor had a respiratory bypass system, it was now failing along with his other body systems.

"I have it here, Grandfather."

The Doctor held back a tear. All these long years and many travels later, he was still choked up about being the grandfather of a child of Rose Tyler; his admiration for her never fully faded. The name "Tyler" always sounded foreign to Thomas as he always knew her as his Gramum, or later as Rose Turner on the few adventures where even though he did not return home, he met people they knew. "Tommy, read it to me, one last time," the Doctor whispered. This was the only person ever allowed to call Thomas by that name for he would always be Tommy to his Grandfather.

Thomas took the Doctor's hand in his own and gave it a light squeeze; a smile of reassurance flashed for the briefest of moments out of the need for comfort. "Okay," he said as he opened the letter:

* * *

_Dearest Doctor,_

_I am writing to you because I have much to tell you, so much to say, so many things I needed to tell you so long ago. But if you have this letter, it means I can no longer tell you in person._

_First, instructions. Take little Tommy with you. He needs to see the stars. He is so much like you in every way that it would do him good. If he stays here, he will be stifled forever, and die far too old with everyone else around him passing long before he can. Tell my family that I love them, and that they are to send my body with you. I know you cannot take me to Gallifrey, so instead, take me to Kasterborous; the TARDIS, how I've missed that old girl, will know what to do next._

_As for you Doctor, there is so much I've wanted to tell you. So much I couldn't when I was with you. I know that you're in pain Doctor, emotional, and maybe even physical. I worked for Torchwood here for a period of time, and though I could not get back to you sooner, I could watch you all those years through all those adventures. We had some of our own as well and I know you'd be proud. The Daleks returned, and we met the Ouroborous. There was a Sliveen and so many more. You would have loved it. And all the while I thought of you and led the English Republic the way you would have done so well. We did discover a way back, the way you came here to me on my final night, but as you saw, it had cost me my life. I knew all along that there was no way it would not. It hurts you to see this, I know it does, and if I could take it away I would, and hold it for you and make you feel all better. _

_And this is what I need to tell you, because if I don't, I'm not sure you'll remember it on your own. And if you forget, you will go mad. I want you to know that sometimes you need the pain. You need all that. Sometimes you need the lows.__ Without the lows, you forget the highs and you forget all that is above and beyond you and all that is within the realm of the impossible. Sometimes you need the dark. Without the dark, you forget the warmth of the fire and the ice and the cold and the rain as it beats at your soul, haunting you in the dead of the night. The endings. Without endings, you forget all the wonderful beginnings and waking up to a new day with new hopes and new possibilities. _

_Sometimes Doctor, you need the sunsets. Without sunsets, you forget the beauty of the sunrise in the morning, the beauty of the youth of the day and of the ages and of you. And you need the small. Without the small, you forget how large you can be, the power you have in your tiniest abilities, and all that you can become. The ice. Without ice, you forget fire, and how it warms the soul, creates the hearts, envelops the mind to keep you fighting through the night. Remember Woman Wept?_

_Sometimes you need the demons and the tragedy. Without demons, you forget the angels and the saints and the glory of the light of love and beauty and good. Without tragedy, you forget the miracles and your life and the lives of those you've saved. And sometimes you need the evil. Without evil, there is no good, and without good there is no hope, without hope there is not bravery, and without bravery you forget to try. You need those all so much and it saddens me to say so. _

_Because, Doctor, sometimes you need all those things. All the highs, all the above and beyond, all that is within the realm of your impossible. The warmth of the fire, the rain that beats deep within your soul. Doctor, you need the wonderful beginnings, and the hope and the love of the life and lives around you. They keep you going, they keep you fighting. Doctor, you need the beauty of the sunrise, and the beauty of the youth of the day and those ages that you have been and will be. You, Doctor, need the fire to warm your soul and create your heart and envelope your mind with beautiful song in the stillness of silence. For Doctor, you are an angel and a saint and you have seen the glory of the light. Because Doctor, sometimes you need to remember the miracles and the hope, because sometimes you need the bravery so you cannot forget to try. And because above all else, sometimes you just need love. _

_Because Doctor, this is my goodbye to you, this is my farewell. I have waited and I have lived. I have seen the lives that have gone before my eyes. The coming of the wolf, the going of the night. I have seen it all, and I have lived through it all and you cannot know, or maybe you can as in a way you have been the same. I have felt what you feel. I have missed you, longed for you, and throughout the years, never forgotten you. In that sense, we were never more than a whisper away from each other. _

_I have loved you from afar for the remainder of my life Doctor, and though you may not realize it, I have watched you all these years. And not just with Torchwood. You have grown up in the eyes of our son and then born again with my grandson - our grandson. I have seen you in them both, and I love them as much as I have loved you. Do not weep for me, as I am now an old woman who has lived a very long life, a life filled with adventure and harmony, and songs and parties and people who have needed me as much as I have needed them. You taught me these things Doctor. You taught me to enjoy and live life, and most importantly to love._

_And I love you. _

_Yours, beloved forever,_

_Rose_

* * *

Thomas looked down at the Doctor who had gasped lightly on hearing the name of his lover of so long ago. Thomas took his hand and held it close.

"I love you Tommy," the Doctor whispered in his last few breaths. "You were the best grandson a grandfather could ever have."

"I love you too Grandfather," Thomas whispered, knowing and accepting that this was their final goodbye.

"I can see Rose now. She's standing, just over there," the Doctor looked across the room. Thomas held back a tear.

"Then you go be with Rose, she's waiting."

"We're going to Gallifrey Tommy. Gallifrey," he smiled before he took one last breath.

"To Gallifrey," Thomas said as the Doctor closed his eyes, to join the fate of his Rose whom he had thought he lost so long ago. "I love you Grandfather," Thomas repeated as he leaned over his grandfather's forehead and kissed him the same way he kissed his Gramum the day she died. He understood now, understood so much more, and it was up to him to keep it all going. He sang the songs in Gallifreyan he had first learned so long ago.

For Thomas was now the Doctor and his Rose, the legacy of the last Time Lord passed down to him. And now beyond all else this was the time to understand and live their love. Thomas folded the Doctor's hands over his chest and tucked the letter in them. It was the one last thing he needed to do in order to pass this life on to the next generation. They were to go to Kasterborous, the TARDIS would know what to do next as she had done so many years earlier.

* * *

_To be continued..._


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: **Sometimes you need… (Part 4 of 4)  
**Author: ** azmatazz/entercreativename  
**Characters/Pairings: **Rose/Ten, original characters  
**Rating: **PG  
**Word Count: **7,500  
**Beta: ** belsum  
**Warnings: **Character Death (but in a very good way)**  
Disclaimer: **Rose, the Doctor, and the TARDIS all belong to the BBC, Russell T. Davies, and everyone else in the production team. **  
Summary: **The Doctor finds his way back to Bad Wolf Bay where he meets Thomas, a young boy charged to his care.

* * *

A couple of hundred years passed in the life of Thomas Turner, grandson of Rose Tyler and a Time Lord named the Doctor, when a blue box appeared on the stormy, windswept beach of Bad Wolf Bay. A young man and a young woman stepped out together.

"This is it," the woman said as she swept a scanner across the horizon line.

"This can't be. It's so terrestrial," the man said. "Gramps would never have set foot here."

"He was born here Benjamin. Don't you remember his stories of old Earth?"

"Yeah, and he was here until he was five. Delilah, why did he want to come back anyway?"

Delilah scanned the overgrown path up the hill. "He wanted to see his home one last time before he joined his family." Delilah walked up towards the path. "There used to be a house here somewhere," she said as an old man made his way out of the TARDIS with a cane, a cape draped over his shoulders to keep out the chill from his bones.

"It's gone now. It's all gone, the Daleks made sure of that. The last Time War. My grandfather said that it would forever set right the course of the stars."

"Grandpa Thomas, you shouldn't be up!" Benjamin yelled as he ran back to the old man, steadying him on his feet.

"No Benny, I need this one last time. You may never return here again, but this is my home after all. Your Great-Great-Grandfather would have done anything to go back to his home one last time. I'm living his dream for him." Thomas looked up at the top of the hill where the little cottage he had once called home now stood in ruins. "We had every intention of returning, to see my mother again, and then each trip would take us further from here until it became a distant memory. And then the Time War came. We returned just as my mother was killed, she called out my name…" Thomas held back one last tear, trying to forget the pain he had caused everyone. He stood looking up at the hill for a few minutes. When he looked down however, he smiled as he made his way over to a big rock at the base of the path. "At least this old thing is still here. Older than me," he patted the rock with his hand as he pulled off his cape. "Something of my childhood survived."

"Really Grandpa Thomas, you'll catch pneumonia," Delilah said as she tried to put the cape over Thomas's shoulders.

"Delilah, for once let me be," Thomas said as he took his granddaughter's hands in his. "Let me enjoy the warmth of this sun on my face one last time." He looked into her eyes and she seemed to understand.

"No, you can regenerate, one more time!" she pleaded.

"I can't. I'm not full Gallifreyan, only one-quarter."

"Please Grandpa!" she pleaded; Benjamin came over to support his sister's argument.

"Grandpa, please, let's just-"

"No Benny, Delilah. This is the time." Thomas looked up at his grandchildren who sat on either side of him on the rock. "Did I ever tell you the story of this rock?" he asked.

Delilah smiled; the memory of the story came back to her, though she had never seen the place with her own eyes before this day. "Tell it again Grandpa," she whispered as she smiled through sad eyes. So he told the story of his Gramum's passing and how he first met the Doctor, his true grandfather, while waiting on the rock. He told the story of how he first came to the stars and of planets and aliens and creatures from everywhere. He told the happy stories and he told the sad ones. But there was one left to tell that he could not tell.

"Benjamin, my dear boy. Do you have the letter?"

Benjamin reached into the pocket of his black leather coat, the one found in the wardrobe of the TARDIS so long ago. His grandfather often told him that he looked like old pictures of the Doctor when he first met Rose, with his daft face, floppy ears, and bright blue eyes "I have it here," Benjamin said.

"Read it to me one last time."

Benjamin swallowed hard as he opened the letter and read it to his own grandfather. Delilah held the frame of the old man in her arms, he had once been so strong, but he fought so many good fights.

"…you taught me these things Thomas. You taught me to enjoy and live life, and most importantly to love.

And I love you.

Yours, beloved forever,

Anne."

Thomas looked to his two grandchildren. "It's up to you now," he said and he looked up across the beach. "There's Anne. And my Gramum and Grandfather. And Mum and Dad, and Grampa. They're waiting. Do not cry for an old man my _grumlies_,for I have lived a long life. I'll finally get to go to Gallifrey. _Mye'Seo. Thia'Lyliet,_"

Tommy Turner squeezed the hands of his grandchildren and took the last breath of life. He was buried on the top of the hill under an old ruined tree with broken branches scattered about and the weathered frame of an old home just barely visible amongst the weeds and the trees now growing on the cliff. His grave was marked with a simple stone; the letter from their Grandma Anne to their Grandfather buried with him.

Benjamin and Delilah Turner walked down the overgrown path to the beach below and took one last look at the Earth around them. For so many years they had heard so many stories of this place, but never stepped foot on the planet itself. And now that they had, they each made sure that they would see it at least one more time, with their children, and their grandchildren, and every generation after them that they could. For the Doctor, a man who scoffed at tradition, his grandchildren seemed to cherish it.

_fine_

* * *

Notes on Gallifreyan phrases and concepts:

--Thia'Lyliet "I walk in eternity."

--Grumlies children's slang for adults

--Mye'Seo "Goodbye"

--Rassilon Imprimatur alterations to the genetic structure of Gallifreyans that allows regeneration, extended life span, time sensitivity, and telepathy.


End file.
